


You Shoot Me Down, But I’m A Bomb

by tielan



Series: Fire And Ice: MCU Jaeger AU [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Co-pilots, Drift Compatibility, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Trope: Transformations, action/drama, trope bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22172227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/pseuds/tielan
Summary: Pepper Potts has never wanted to be a Jaeger pilot. But needs must, as the Drift drives...
Relationships: Maria Hill & Pepper Potts, Maria Hill/Steve Rogers (background), Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Fire And Ice: MCU Jaeger AU [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/501541
Comments: 11
Kudos: 70
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Fourteen





	You Shoot Me Down, But I’m A Bomb

**Author's Note:**

> For my [2019 Trope Bingo Box](https://tielan.dreamwidth.org/1172262.html): "Transformations".

Pepper has never wanted to be a Jaeger pilot.

Not once in the history of her connection with the PPDC through Tony has she ever looked at a Jaeger striding through the surf and thought, _I wish I could do that._ Those kinds of things – those sorts of _heroics_ – were for Tony and Rhodey, and others like them: Stacker Pentecost, Thor Odinsson and Sif Sjolander, Bruce and Trevin Gage, Elisabeth Braddock...

And yet here she is in a bodysuit full of goo, hooked up to a Jaeger, sharing the best and worst moments of her life with a woman who she didn't even know four years ago. And somehow in spite of the sharing of the worst moments of her life – and feeling the worst moments of Maria's life – it's the best moment of both their lives.

In this moment, she really believes she could take on a _kaiju_ and win.

_We_ _ **could**_ _take on a kaiju and win,_ says Maria in the Drift. It must be the Drift because the other woman's mouth isn't moving although she's looking at Pepper. _That's what this Jaeger is made for._

_But it's also the Drift, isn't it?_

Pepper recalls a conversation with Tony and Rhodey, about how it felt to Drift – to have someone who saw every part of them, yet didn't turn away. Somehow they never managed to convey the thrill of it – the rush of delight and pleasure in the connection, like a joke shared between two people who understand each other perfectly.

Or maybe she'd just written it off as Tony being Tony – the thrill–seeker, the attention–chaser, his mind as brilliant as a faceted diamond, every reflection sharp and bright as the next.

But this isn't diamond brilliance but the polished edge of competence, the willingness to do what needs to be done. It's the responsibilities that need to be met, and the squashed–down fear that it won't be enough.

_We do what we can – just as we always have – and it's enough,_ Maria says in the Drift, and Pepper clings to that thought, knows Maria clings to that thought, too.

Only now what they can do is so much more...

She can hear Marshall Pentecost saying something to the effect that it's the bond that drives the Jaeger – in more than just the sense of the Drift. That it's the connection between you and someone else that boosts the element of the human spirit, and what seemed impossible down on the ground is suddenly easy from hundreds of feet up.

" _Titanium Stiletto_ , this is LOCCENT. Your vital signs are all in the green, and everything looks good from here." Lieutenant D'onofrio sounds positively jaunty over the comms, and the thought – Maria's thought – slides past Pepper that it's a by–product of him being an Air Force test jockey. This is his meat and milk, and one of the reasons he was the pilot they chose for the second attempt at driving a Jaeger – back before they even realised that it needed two people to drive. "How are you ladies feeling right now?"

There's so many ways to answer that, and not only Pepper's own answers, but Maria's, skim through her mind swift as lightning.

"Well, I'm a little confused as to whether I'm five foot nine or two hundred seventy three feet tall," Pepper says, going for flippant, because she feels both euphoric and weirdly heavy at once. Like she's trying to calculate equations through several layers of cotton wool.

_Well, aren't we?_ Maria asks, even as she speaks out loud. "But we're otherwise fine. So have you satisfied yourself that we're Drift compatible, Sergio?"

“And then some,” he says smugly.

"But?"

"We'd like you to try some of the functions on the Jaeger..." He pauses for a moment, and Pepper can hear voices in the background – Tony's distinctive inflections, and Rhodey, of course. And...didn't she hear Rogers there, too? Which probably means that Wilson is also present—

She knows that Wilson doesn't approve of Maria's relationship with Rogers, and she's quite in agreement on that – although not for the same reasons...

_It is what it is,_ Maria's resignation aches before the other woman banishes it. _Never mind. I'll deal with him later—_

"What do you want, Lieutenant?"

"You're hooked into _Titanium's_ synaptic network, but we haven't linked up the Jaeger body – that was a deliberate choice in case the Drift didn't work out..." There's a murmur on the other end of the connection, and with Maria's thoughts sliding past her own, Pepper realises what it is that they want them to do.

Maria's the one to voice the thought going through both their heads, complete with abject disbelief. "You want us to take _Titanium_ out into the bay?"

"You'll be towed out into the playground, and from there we'll—"

In the background, someone is protesting that this is moving too fast. "There's no slow lane for this Jaeger," Fury rumbles, his voice coming clearly through, even though he's in the background. "And it's not up to you, Ranger."

_Tony?_ Pepper wonders, _or Steve?_

_Would their reactions be that much different?_ Maria asks dryly. _But the question is whether_ _ **you**_ _want to do this._

_We've come this far, we might as well go all the way._

_On the first Drift?_

_Only with you._ Pepper grins at the teasing, before the seriousness of what they're about to do hits her. Once they go out there, there's no going back.

Not that they could go back. Not after this.

_No,_ Maria agrees. _Not without finding out what we could be._

Pepper takes a deep breath. "LOCCENT? This is _Titanium Stiletto_... We're ready to play."

–

After a long, hot shower to ease back the aches of the test – driving a Jaeger is a workout and a half – Pepper comes to stand in front of the mirror next to Maria, who's drying her hair. Her own is pulled back into a damp ponytail because they have a meeting in an hour, and Pepper needs to talk to Tony.

It's a pressure beneath her breast, a hard knot of uncertainty and terror that she doesn't have to explain – not to Maria.

"You're sure you want this?"

Eyes as blue as the ocean meet hers, rock steady as the sense of the other woman that still echoes in Pepper. They might not be Drifting anymore, but the connection remains. "Are you?"

"Do you need to ask?"

"Not really." Maria smiles. "But it's still good to use words, even with the Drift."

"We're going to do this." Saying it helps make it real in her mind.

So, too, does Maria's affirmation. "Yes. If they let us."

They took _Titanium Stiletto_ out into the surf, pushing against the weight of the waves as they strode into the sea. Operating the Jaeger felt no more strenuous than a hard gym workout, and with Maria there to explain the terms and norms that Pepper didn't understand, their thoughts Drifting across each other in an exchange of both personal details and professional knowledge. They'd waded out to the miracle mile and returned accompanied by _Magma Quake_ on its way back from patrol. The LOCCENT chatter had been more excited than was usual according to Maria.

_Mostly because the Jaeger's responding better to us than any of the other pilot pairings they had for it._

_Jaeger sentience?_

_Maybe._

After nearly two hours of Drifting together, sharing thoughts and feelings and histories, it feels so weird to be back in her own body, with no thoughts in her mind but her own. But that's part of the Drift hangover – a term she's heard both Tony and Rhodey use before to describe the sensation of being unmoored from your co–pilot after the Drift has ended. Some pilots stay close until the hangover has passed; others opt to make a clean break of it – 'cold turkey' is the term Rhodey uses.

Another time, Pepper might stay with Maria until the sensation of missing something goes away, but she has other goals right now.

"I have to go find Tony," Pepper voices her intent, as much to reinforce the thought herself as to let Maria know. "I'll see you at the briefing."

The pilot preparation area beyond the change room is almost empty of the technicians who helped them out of the piloting gear. There's no sign of any of the gear, and all the tools and machines have been put away. There are two people down the other end of the room, but they only nod briefly at Pepper when she stops in the middle of the room and when they turn back to whatever they're discussing in low tones, she continues on to the exit.

For a moment, as the doors slide open, she thinks that she won't have to hunt him down after all.

Then recognition kicks in.

It seems impossible that she could ever mistake Steve Rogers for Tony. And yet in spite of the difference in height, build, and looks, the kick of recognition that hits her like a punch to the chest is exactly what Pepper feels for Tony: someone she doesn't quite understand, shouldn't even have, and yet can't help wanting with every breath that she takes.

Rogers' gaze slips beyond, but Maria's not coming, and his gaze shutters as it returns to Pepper. "Ms. Potts."

"Ranger Rogers."

"Congratulations on your Drift."

"Thank you, Ranger."

She begins to move past him, intending to head off to find Tony, but he steps in her way.

"Look," he says quietly. "I get that you don't like me, but so long as I'm seeing Maria, you're going to have to deal with me. You're going to have to accept that I'm going to be a part of her life as long as she allows me, and I'm not going to back away just because you're Drift–compatible and with Stark."

Pepper stares at him for a long moment, confused. Drift–compatible and with Tony? "What do you mean?"

Rogers hesitates, then turns as another set of footsteps rounds the corner. He stiffens at the sight of Rhodey, even though the other man has an easy smile on his face as he approaches them.

"Pepper, Rogers."

"Rhodes."

He leans forward and Pepper accepts his kiss and the warm press of his jaw against her cheek. "How are you doing after the Drift test?"

"Like I went two rounds with the board of directors, no lunch-break."

"Ouch," he comments with a grin. "I'm guessing that's the operation of the Jaeger, though, not the Drift with Maria."

"No, the drift with Maria was fine." Pepper tells him, like he needs the reassurance. "She'll be out in a minute if that's who you're waiting for."

"I was waiting for both of you." Rhodey glances at Rogers. "But I see there's a queue for Maria."

In spite of the mildness of Rhodey's tone, Rogers' cheeks go a hard and ugly red. "If you'd agreed to be exclusive, Maria wouldn't have given me the time of day."

And suddenly Pepper understands.

Pepper is Drift–compatible with Maria and dating Tony, who's Drift–compatible with Rhodey... It's a logical step to make – and she helped Rogers take that step all those months ago back in Hong Kong.

_How long have she and Colonel Rhodes been seeing each other?_

_You don't have the right to the answer._

She should correct him – whatever Pepper thinks of Rogers, Maria actually loves him. And Maria doesn't like Tony much, either, but that's not going to change anything for Pepper—

Of course, Rhodey's already setting the matter straight, because it's not his nature to leave things misunderstood. "You know, _if_ I was seeing Maria, then I’d probably be furious right now. But then, if I was seeing Maria, then we'd be exclusive."

That seems to floor Rogers. "You... You and Maria... You're...not?"

"We've agreed to be friends." Rhodey doesn't sound disappointed, but there's a faint and sly tilt to his mouth that says, louder than words, that he's enjoying Rogers’ discomfort. "And I wouldn't want Maria to be friends with a guy who didn't want her to have other friends."

"I don't—" Rogers stops himself, then looks at Pepper. "You let me believe that she was seeing someone else."

"Yes, she did."

Both Rhodey and Rogers startle, turning to look at Maria as she emerges from pilot prep.

Pepper reaches out one hand to her friend, wanting the contact, and feels the still–lingering echoes of the Drift as she squeezes Maria's hand. Love and longing mingle with tense uncertainty as her friend looks at Steve, unsure of where she stands with him, even if it doesn't show on her face. Pepper lets her own reassurance flow through the Drift.

They have each other, they have the Drift, and from the sound of it, they'll have the Jaeger, too.

Everything else is window–dressing. Even Tony and Steve.

With Maria's hand in hers, Pepper feels the other woman calm.

"Hey," Rhodey says and Maria switches her gaze to him, then leans in to accept the quick hug. "I came to see how you're doing, but we'll catch up later, okay?"

"Yes. Definitely, yes."

Rhodey starts off down the corridor. Pepper squeezes Maria's hand again. "I'll see you at the meeting," she says and receives nothing more than a nod.

She hurries after Rhodey, not looking back.

Maria's thing – relationship, intimacy, friendship, whatever it is – with Steve is something that they have to work out between them, and Pepper's not going to interfere. She has her own fish to fry.

"How bad is he?" She asks when she’s caught up with Rhodey and they’re out of earshot.

"Not _bad_ ," Rhodey says after a brief pause. "It just came as a bit of a shock to both of us that they were considering you two for _Titanium_."

"You're okay with it?"

"It'll take some getting used to, maybe." Rhodey shoots her a sideways glance. "But I've always known you two would be deadly if you had to be."

"Do you mind? About Maria dating Rogers, I mean."

Another brief pause, and Rhodey smiles wryly. "I'm a little disappointed she wasn't interested, but I’ve known that for a while. We talked it over, and we're good. Really."

Being Rhodey, Pepper trusts he means what he says. Still, a small seed of anxiety lingers.

"And you're good with us piloting the Jaeger?"

Rhodey smiles sideways at her, tilting his head with a gentle smile. "I'm not the one whose opinion you're worried about, Pepper. But for what it's worth, I think you two will knock it out of the park."

–

Pepper feels like she's searched nearly everywhere else before she remembers that Tony likes the view from the Shatterdome roof.

It's a long trip of elevator rides and stairwells to get there, and by the time she climbs the last steps of the catwalk grating, it's less than half an hour to the meeting with the PPDC. The last lingering shreds of the sunset are slowly seeping below the horizon, but the ambient light from the external 'Dome lights shows Tony leaning against a railing at the edge of the roof, hunched over with his arms resting on the guardrail. He doesn't look around as Pepper approaches, but starts talking when she pauses beside him.

"When we first got involved in the manufacturing in the Jaeger Program, I thought...it was just something we could do. Make money, help save the world, do good... And then I discovered I was Drift–compatible with Rhodey, and it was the right thing to do. And I could leave the company in your hands, know that I was looking after the company and you and the world all at once..."

"Tony..."

"When they said you were doing the Drift–test—" He turns to her, dark eyes anguished. "Pepper, I can't protect you out there. No, listen to me— I can't keep you safe when you're out fighting the _kaiju_. It's not like a board meeting or dealing with assholes in business finance. It's dangerous. And I...I need to know you're safe. I need— I don't think I could stand it if anything—"

"Tony." Pepper waits until he stops babbling. "I don't want to be a Jaeger pilot."

"Well, then—"

"But it's the right thing to do." He stiffens, opens his mouth to protest. Pepper plunges on. "You just said it yourself in a way. Becoming the CEO – that was something I could do to help save the world. But now that I can pilot a Jaeger... This isn't about us – it can't be. There are... There are bigger things at stake."

"Your life is a pretty big thing in my books!" Tony looks grim. "Pepper, I can't let you do this—"

"Tony, I love you, but you don't get to tell me what I'm going to do or not."

"And you're going to do this?"

"Yes."

He stares at her for a long moment. "All right." His voice is clipped and curt.

"Tony—"

"No, I get it. You don't want me to protect you—"

"It's not that— Tony!" Pepper grabs him because she needs him to understand and she's afraid that he won't. "Protecting me isn't your job – it never was. Not when I first came to work for you, not when you gave me the company. You let me fight my own battles for respect all these years – why does this change anything?"

"Because driving a Jaeger is dangerous!"

"You do it!"

"That's different!"

"Why? Because you're a man? Because you're Tony Stark? Because you love me?" Pepper holds his gaze. "Tony, what about me? Don't I get to have a turn at protecting you, too?"

He stares at her for a long moment. "You shouldn't have to."

"Why? Because that's what you do?" Pepper stares him down. "I want to do this, Tony. I want to drive a Jaeger with Maria and do what we can to protect the world from the _kaiju_ – with you and Rhodey and...and Rogers and Wilson, and all the other PPDC Jaeger pilots. It's not that I don't enjoy what I'm doing now, but if I can do this – if Maria and I can pilot _Titanium Stiletto_ together – then that’s something new and we want to do it."

"If they'll let you."

"If they'll let us," she agrees. "Which they won't if I'm not at the debriefing in fifteen minutes."

Tony sighs and his arms come around her waist, warm and strong and, yes, protective. And that's one of the things that Pepper loves about him – the protector that's always been there inside the shell of the careless playboy. "I guess you'd never talk to me again if I delayed you from the debriefing."

"Never is a long time," Pepper concedes and kisses him, but pulls back when he angles his mouth against hers to go deeper. "But I'd be really annoyed if that's how you decide you're going to sabotage Maria and me."

"Meaning another form of sabotage might be— Ouch! Pepper!"

–

The briefing isn't as long as Pepper expected.

Then again, as Maria gives the brief of their operation of the Jaeger, she realises that they only took it out into the water to get a feel for operating the Jaeger, they didn't run a patrol or fight a _kaiju_.

If Dr Lightcap, Lieutenant D'onofrio, and Marshal Fury have their way, they'll do both in the near future.

If others have their way, they won't.

"How do _you_ feel about piloting a Jaeger, Ms. Potts?"

The question comes as a surprise – both the question itself and the source of the inquiry. Pepper doesn't glance at Maria: the other woman's displeasure is plain enough. The sense of Maria has faded over the last hour, back to a nebulous awareness of her friend's stronger feelings, but Maria dislikes PPDC Representative Gideon Malick enough that it comes through quite clear.

"It's not something I expected to ever do."

"No?" Representative Malick's tone earns him a frowning glance from D'onofrio and a flicker of annoyance from Fury. "But Stark Industries Engineering was instrumental in the development of the Mark IV technology, weren't they?"

"Stark Industries has been significant in Jaeger development since the Mark IIs," Pepper observes, her tone neutral. She can guess where this is going, and while she could head it off, she imagines that it's better to hear what Representative Malick has to say rather than guessing what he and others of his faction might have on their minds.

How much of it is her own experience of men who charmingly place roadblocks in her way under the guise of 'helping' and how much from Maria's knowledge that Malick is one of Secretary General Alexander Pierce's party – the people who are going to have it in for them.

"Including the failed Stinger technology that fritzed _Black Widow,_ resulting in the death of one of its pilots, I believe." Malick barely pauses for breath. "There were indications that Stark Industries was behind that failure."

"The investigation cleared Stark Industries of intent to harm," Pepper reminds him.

"And Stark Industries made good on repairs and restitution," Maria adds.

Malick's gaze flicks to Maria. "And you made good out of the situation by bringing it to the PPDC's notice."

Fury shifts in his chair, drawing gazes to him with effortless authority. "What's your point, Malick?"

"My point is that it's decidedly coincidental that the CEO of Stark Industries just _happens_ to be Drift–compatible with someone who's been recognised by the company for work related to the Jaeger program, _and_ that they turn out to be the 'best candidates' for the next Jaeger off the line!"

"The Jaeger program is full of coincidences," Fury points out.

"Our realisation of the Drift is a coincidence itself," Dr. Lightcap says, her voice clear and smiling. "The fact that the PONS could be used to make a neural bridge to operate Jaeger technology – that we could connect two minds sufficiently in synchronisation—"

"That the person overseeing the first Jaeger demonstration would turn out to be Drift–compatible with the first Jaeger pilot..." Lieutenant D'onofrio murmurs.

Abruptly, Pepper remembers that it was Dr. Lightcap who leaped into the neural bridge to Drift with the Lieutenant during the first Jaeger demonstration. She doesn't know if she got it from Maria or heard about it from someone else anymore, and it doesn't really matter. She has the knowledge, how she acquired it is no longer relevant – is it?

"—it's all ridiculously impossible in statistics."

"Are you suggesting that the Drift between Ms. Potts and myself has been faked, Representative Malick?" Maria asks. "Because the Jaeger performance indicates otherwise."

"I'm suggesting that it's all looking extremely suspicious."

"To the point where the PPDC would ground a perfectly good Jaeger team just because you don't like the correlation of coincidence?" D'onofrio inquires.

"The last thing we need is a several billion dollar piece of technology in the hands of a socialite and a Jaeger Corps troublemaker!"

Pepper's been called worse in her time, but the dismissal of everything she's done at Stark Industries never fails to frustrate her. She's done a lot more for Stark Industries than even Tony managed in the years between his father's death and his handing over of the company to her. Under her leadership and management, the share price has doubled, and even taking away the financial performance indicators, SI is turning out solid workmanship, employing thousands, and helping save the world with their technology in the Jaeger program.

What's more, she was never even a socialite.

Beside her, she can sense Maria similarly fuming although her expression is utterly blank.

Pepper's heard the gossip about Maria being a 'troublemaker', of course – it's hard to avoid gossip even as a visitor to the Shatterdome. And after the night when Maria broke down in Hong Kong, Pepper did some research on the pilots of _Serpent Snarl_ , and canvassed for opinions. The feedback from people she trusted was carefully neutral. _They seem good at fighting the kaiju, but not someone I'd trust with my back, my purse, or my girl,_ was the pronouncement from the SI Project Manager who was stationed in Hong Kong.

Frustration curls around her chest. Are they going to be dismissed simply because someone holds a grudge against them?

" _Matador Fury's_ pilots have a criminal history. _Magneto Psych_ has a pilot with a criminal _conviction_ and a commuted death sentence for terrorism. And the pilots of _Serpent's Snarl_ are assholes." Lieutenant D'onofrio's smile has distinct teeth. "They're still all out in the field."

"The _first_ thing we need is a Jaeger operated by the best pilot pairing that we have available for it." Fury leans back in his chair. "Which is Commander Hill and Ms. Potts according to all the LOCCENT readings undertaken today and in the last few weeks since we began the shortlist. And the day–to–day operations of the Jaeger program are in the hands of the Marshals of the PPDC, not the Council representatives."

"The Secretary–General has made his decision clear—"

"Alex Pierce has his moments of brilliance," Fury retorts, "but he also has his moments of stupidity. And since this is a stupid–ass decision, this PPDC Marshal is electing to ignore it."

"This isn't cowboy country, Fury," Malick sneers. "You can't just run around doing whatever you want without supervision. The Council of the PPDC runs all Jaeger operations—"

"The Council _oversees_ the Jaeger program." Fury steeples his hands over his chest. "And overseeing is a long way from actually running Jaeger operations – which Alex knows perfectly well. He also knows that he's allowed to dislike the Shatterdome Marshals' choices for the pilots of _Titanium Stiletto_ – along with the name of the Jaeger himself – but when it comes to actually getting one out in the field, the Marshals have the final say."

Malick's lips press together. "Shall we see exactly how that goes down with the Council?"

Fury glances at Maria and Pepper. "Ladies, I don't think you need to be around for this. We'll take it from here."

"Well done on the Jaeger, too." D'onofrio winks at them as they walk out.

Pepper waits until the door closes behind them before asking, "And what happens now?"

"Now the PPDC meets – the Council and the Marshals – to make a decision on the Jaeger and the pilots."

"Do we have to wait here in the corridor?" There are no chairs, no waiting room, nothing that suggests they're supposed to cool their heels out here. And Pepper's feeling antsy.

"No," Maria says, immediately. "There's a balcony that runs around the inside of the Shatterdome. We can go up and watch operations."

She leads them along the corridor and out a side door that puts them onto the metal landing of a set of stairs leading down to the Shatterdome floor.

They're halfway down when people start noticing them, and by the time they've reached the bottom a crowd has gathered.

Pepper's hand is seized and shaken by first this person, then another. There are people clapping her on the shoulder, wishing her well – some people she's seen working on the Jaegers – on _Steel Patriot_ or on some part or project developed by Stark Industries. But the congratulations, while heartfelt, are largely generic for Pepper.

The congratulations for Maria are personal.

These are her workmates, the people who've known her since she started with the Jaeger program. They're the J–crews, the Shatterdome staff, the shift personnel who've argued with her instructions and listened to her sitrep, who've sat down at tables and eaten alongside her, or shared a swig of 'Dome moonshine with her. And if they haven't always liked Maria – the orders she gave, the way she ran things, the decisions she made – the ones coming forward are still delighted that one of 'their own' has been selected as pilot.

Maria is drawn into hugs by women who squeeze her tight, and by guys who shake her shoulders and lightly knuckle her jaw. She's fistbumped by giant Pacific Islanders and hip–bumped by slim South–East Asians.

And beneath it all lies the lingering disbelief that this is for her; that these people are actually on her side.

Pepper isn't entirely sure how much of the Drift Maria's still feeling, but she sends love and assurances and hope it gets through. From the glance Maria sends her way, and the brief flash of a smile, it does.

Rhodey materialises beside Pepper with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. "So you're not bleeding from any external wounds that I can see..."

"Alexander Pierce doesn't like us," she says as Tony saunters up. "But the Marshals do."

"Nothing new about that," Tony slides an arm around Pepper's waist and she leans into him, suddenly wanting the warmth and contact. "Pierce doesn't like anyone."

"He champions _Serpent Snarl_ ," Rhodey comments.

"Assholes." Tony doesn't even bother to lower his voice. "All three of them."

Pepper is listening, but a more urgent need is rising within her – the need to get away from these crowds who love her and them and what she and her Drift partner represent...

It's not her need, it's Maria's. She can feel it wrapping around the other woman, coil upon coil, like a boa constrictor, no matter how serene she looks as she shakes hands and smiles and converses.

Pepper leans up to kiss Tony briefly and fiercely on the mouth. "I'll see you at dinner, okay."

"Okay, but where—?"

But she's already on her way to Maria when Rhodey murmurs "Drift hangover."

The crowds around Maria have ebbed, the current shift workers going back to their jobs, the off–duty techs and crew members giving her space, although a few remain. Further out, Pepper can see people hovering – people who've already come to congratulate Maria. For a moment she's confused – then understanding kicks in.

Maria's in the middle of a quiet and serious conversation with Sam Wilson. Beyond Wilson, Rogers is standing back and letting his co–pilot take the lead but his eyes are devouring Maria. It seems that whatever they talked about after Pepper went looking for Tony, it didn't resolve as much as he wanted.

Of course, if he's like Tony, and 'resolution' means 'not putting herself in danger that he can't protect her from', then he's going to be disappointed through and through.

Assuming the PPDC Council even allows them to pilot _Titanium Stiletto._

Pepper doesn't hesitate to approach; while the tone of the conversation between Maria and Wilson is easy, Maria's about as wary of Sam's judgement of her as Steve was of Pepper's judgement of him earlier.

"Ms. Potts."

"Ranger Wilson."

"Congratulations on a successful Drift."

"Thank you." She nudges Maria. "I'm thirsty. Can we detour past vending on our way out?"

"Where are you going?" Rogers asks. "The viewing balcony?"

"Steve," Wilson says in warning before Maria lifts a hand to ask him to hush, her gaze on Steve.

"I meant what I said this morning."

Pepper feels Maria’s words echoing in her. _It’s this or nothing, Steve._ But if they end up piloting _Titanium Stiletto_ then the landscape of power and reputation in the PPDC will shift for Maria as surely as it shifted for Pepper when she became CEO of Stark Industries.

But they can't rely on that; Maria can't rely on that. They both know the feeling of promises broken, the bitterness of what should be theirs by earned right being taken away and given to someone less deserving. They have each other, yes, but they can't count on getting the Jaeger, much as they'd like.

"Maria—"

"Not now," she says, quietly. "After the PPDC decision."

Steve half–lifts his hands in frustrated helplessness, then huffs out a breath. "I'll hold you to that, Maria."

He turns away, brushing Wilson with his shoulder, and the other guy gives him a shoulder–bump as he turns on his toes and begins to follow Rogers away.

Pepper looks at Maria and hopes that the connection between them conveys her support. She understands what it is to be in love with a man she can't have without sacrificing her professional standing. She knows what it is to be conflicted about love and all the complications it makes. And she remembers the expression on Tony's face as he gave her the company, believing that he'd have to lose her – to her professionalism, to his piloting, to the responsibilities that they each shouldered...

The shiver runs through them both. Then Maria is moving. "Steve!"

He turns. His hands lift to touch her shoulders. His expression lights up with hesitant hope as she comes to a stop in front of him. Then Maria fists her hand in his collar and yanks his mouth down to hers.

Pepper grins. Wilson turns, sees them, and rolls his eyes. Someone whoops and there's some scattered clapping and cheering.

"I guess that's one way to do it," Tony murmurs, coming alongside Pepper. "So how come he gets a kiss like that and I don't?"

"You want a kiss like that from Maria?" Pepper's smirk only lasts long enough for Tony to bend down. And she curls her fingers into his shirt buttons as their mouths meet, resting her knuckles right over the steady thump of his heart.

The kiss – intense and hungry –still isn't what she wants, though. And when she breaks from Tony, slipping her finger over his mouth so he won't follow her down with kisses, she sees Maria's done the same to Steve.

Tony huffs, but presses a kiss to her palm. "Go hangover with your co–pilot," he says lightly. "Just don't adopt her attitude to me, please."

Pepper almost laughs, except for the uncertainty that she knows exists beneath Tony's confident and self–assured exterior. She kisses him again in reassurance, then turns to face Maria, who's turning to face her, her expression satisfied and amused. "Are we going?"

The Shatterdome viewing lounge is a deep, narrow area that is only visible from the ground as a balcony. The ceiling lifts at the same rate as the rest of the Shatterdome roof, though, so it has a great view of the Jaegers, each standing in their gantry, and the space has been furnished appropriately, with a large number of couches, chairs, coffee tables, and nooks as well as a kitchenette with an array of tea and coffee–making facilities along the back wall. There are a few people gathered there, but not many, and they barely look up when Pepper and Maria take up one of the couches, slouched shoulder to shoulder as they look up at the Jaegers in the Shatterdome.

It's so nice just to sit there, their heads resting on the back of the soft, puffy couch cushions, just not speaking because nothing needs to be said for a while.

Whether or not they get the Jaeger, this intimacy between them has become important to Pepper – and presumably to Maria as well – a friend that she wasn't looking for but was delighted to find all the same. And Maria feels the same way – even though she has plenty of female friends among the Shatterdome women, it's not like this.

She half–lifts her left hand, finds Maria already reaching up with her right, and they clasp hands and settle their arms back down on the couch.

Tactility is important, she thinks – or Maria does. It's probably Maria, because Pepper suddenly knows that physical contact keeps the resonance of the Drift going, even after the neural connection has ended. Some pilots fight in the Kwoon. Some pilots fuck like bunnies. Some just sit with each other, while others match minds. So many possibilities and no shortage of options.

How long do they lie there? Pepper's not sure, but she's noticed that people around them are getting up, so maybe there's a shift change due?

"Nearly," Maria says out loud. "In the next hour, which is why they're all going to dinner."

"We could go out to the street food vendors," Pepper murmurs, feeling the pangs of hunger in Maria, just the same as in her own skin. And is the sudden yen for street noodles hers or Maria's? "Unless we need to stay here..."

"They'll be hours yet. It's the PPDC—"

Right on cue, Maria's phone rings. Maria pulls it out of her pocket and stares at the screen. "It's Fury."

Pepper sits up. "Already?"

"Apparently." Maria swipes to answer the call and puts it on speakerphone. "This is Hill."

"The official announcement will be tomorrow morning. Go down to Uniforms and find something that fits Ms. Potts. Just the standard coveralls; let's not give them any more ammunition to add to the screeching about 'special consideration'. And while you're there, talk to PONS Gear because they're going to want your measurements for the final undersuit. Also, tell Potts to look at her email; she's about to receive a bevy of forms to fill out as a contractor working for the PPDC instead of a guest being taken around the facilities. They'll need to be completed by the announcement, if not actually processed through Payroll. And there'll be promotional photos tomorrow, so get a good night's sleep. You're going to need it."

Pepper looks at Maria, wondering if Fury is always this terse. Has he actually said that they have the Jaeger?

"Thanks, sir."

"Congratulations, Hill. You can pass that on to Potts if she's not already listening in."

"Thank you, Marshal."

"I'm not saying 'you're welcome'," he says, drolly, "Because now we're back to being short a Floor Commander. Fury out."

As the call shuts down, Pepper meets Maria's gaze. "Is he always like that?"

"That's pretty good for him. If he was really unhappy about it, he'd have told us we had it and just hung up."

"So...the point at which he's giving heads' ups...?"

"He's helping." Maria drops the phone on the coffee table in front of them and exhales as she turns to Pepper. "We have the Jaeger."

"We have the Jaeger." It hits Pepper like a rush. A moment later, Maria is hugging her, leaning into her side like a support – like Pepper is a support for her. "It doesn't seem real."

"It is." And Maria is terrified.

"We're in it together," Pepper tells her co–pilot – and herself while she's at it.

–

It's still terrifying as they wade out onto the South American continental shelf outside Lima, on their first patrol as a pilot pair. They've been teamed with another Jaeger for 'training purposes', although the briefing was that if a _kaiju_ did come through the Breach, then they were to leave the fighting to _Gipsy Danger_ and only step in if things became dire.

_Are they usually this cautious letting a Jaeger out?_ Pepper wonders.

Through the Drift spins Maria's memories of a dozen other first patrols – ones that she watched go out, ones that she watched go well, ones that she watched go wrong. _Now that they have enough Jaegers to send us out in pairs, they usually send a first patrol out with an experienced Jaeger._

Back in the beginning, Pepper sees, it was one Jaeger doing the job alone _._

It strikes Pepper just how long Maria has been with the Jaeger program – almost from its inception.

_And a couple of teenagers are considered 'experienced'?_

Maria's exasperation and affection for the Beckets is clear enough. _They are when they've been piloting for a year and have two kaiju to their badge._

"So, _Stiletto,_ it's your first time and we'll be gentle..."

"Mr Becket–the–Elder," Maria interrupts. "Keep on like that, and I'll request never to be paired with _Gipsy_ again."

_Would they do that?_

_Probably. There are enough Jaegers through the Pacific Rim to switch things up pretty well._

The silence on the other end of the line is speaking. Frankly, Pepper's surprised that they're not giving them sass back. Or that LOCCENT hasn't intervened.

_They're used to me being the authority when we deal with each other._ _Plus, Anneka knows that we need to establish that we won't be pushovers from the start just because we're women and not originally in the pilot options. And both Anneka and this LOCCENT Chief is big on letting the pilots work out their own issues._

It makes sense. And gives Pepper the inspiration to add to it; she knows all about setting ground rules from the get–go – particularly with men who think they can be patronising. Even not–fully–grown men.

"You're going to treat us like we're pilots," Pepper says briskly.

"Which we are," Maria adds. " _And_ you're going to to treat us like people who know where the safety valves on your drivesuits are and the last time they were checked."

"Which we do." Pepper glances at Maria smiling. "You do your share of the patrol, _Gipsy_..."

"And we'll do ours."

They don't mean to finish each other's sentences perhaps, but it's easy to do in the Drift. At least, it's easy for them. Apparently not everyone connects the same way with their co–pilot. And Pepper's been learning a lot about the underworkings of the PPDC, about pilots and the Drift and Drift psychology, as well as about how to pilot _Titanium Stiletto_ effectively.

"Copy that." The voice is subtly different from the original one; the younger Becket answering for both of them. "Sorry, Commander."

"Forgiven, Beckets." Maria's voice is crisp and strong, with no hint of the smile that echoes in the Drift. " _Titanium_ heading due north–north–east, running all clear along the continental shelf. We'll stick within the Miracle Mile and let you know if trouble comes."

"Save us some fight if you find a _kaiju_ first!"

It seems nothing keeps the elder Becket down for long.

Pepper finds herself smiling as they stride through the ocean, still feeling their way along this shore – still feeling their way through his partnership.

There's been meetings and briefings galore since they were confirmed as the pilots of _Titanium Stiletto_. Lessons in PR – mostly for Maria, lessons in the PPDC structure – mostly for Pepper, and dealing with a whole new set of expectations and requirements.

It hasn't been easy.

The Council has tried to block them at every turn, from citing military regulations that are surely a hundred years old, to launching full–scale investigations into Stark Industries' development processes for anything that went into _Stiletto_. Luckily, the director whom Pepper put in charge of the company – one Kate Bishop, wealthy socialite with a brain as swift and focused as an arrow point– has shown herself more than capable of holding the whip hand when it comes to dealing with the Board of Directors, the PPDC Investigations Committee, the company's shareholders, and the people whom the company employs.

_Tony calls her 'Batman'?_ Maria's disbelief and laughter rolls through the Drift.

_I know. Like he can talk..._ With a flick of her fingers, Pepper pulls up the scans of the ocean around them, the realtime feed of the currents that will let them know when a _kaiju_ is headed their way. 

There were simulations – so many simulations. At one point Maria muttered that they must have been through every _kaiju_ battle that had ever been fought. Certainly it felt like that after yet another simulation was scheduled. But their success rate had been on the upper range of Jaeger pilot pairings, and while Gideon Malick could argue with the statistics, Alexander Pierce had sufficient brains to override his pet bulldog.

_Bulldogs can actually be lovely pets, you know._

_If they're treated well and trained. But Malick has never been happy about Fury's influence – both in the PPDC generally and with Alexander Pierce. He's possessive of his master..._

As they move past the State Marine Conservation Areas, Pepper lets herself relax into the now–familiar partnership with Maria and the Jaeger. They've been remarkably in tune with each other from the start, but the last few weeks of simulations and training days in _Stiletto_ have settled their partnership beyond a shadow of a doubt.

" _Are you sharing the brain right now?_ " Tony asked during a call the other day after Pepper made a droll comment about circuses and the PPDC, referencing all the hoops they were being made to jump through like a pair of performing beasts. " _Because that sounds like something Maria would say..._ "

" _Maria's...busy right now._ "

" _Busy, as in 'with Rogers'?_ _Because gossip says that he was seen getting on the chopper flight to Lima at Ridiculous O’clock. You know, I'm sure Wilson seduced someone to get their weekend off because Rhodey swears that they were on the roster for this weekend, and then suddenly they weren't._.."

Tony sounded distinctly disgruntled, and Pepper rolled her eyes. " _Tony_ —"

" _I'm talking too much right now, aren't I? Should I ask what you're wearing instead?_ "

In the empty pilot's lounge, Pepper had grinned to herself at the mercurial change of topic. " _You should._ "

In the Conn–Pod, wading through the continental 'shallows' of the Pacific Ocean, Pepper feels Maria's amusement as the memory of phone sex with Tony diffuses through the Drift.

_I think I managed to convince him that I have no intention of moving on Yancy Becket..._

What Maria did to convince Steve hovers briefly in the Drift before slipping away. They don't chase the RABIT and they both carefully don't look too closely at the love life of the other. And if Pepper finds herself wanting to squeeze Steve Rogers' butt from time to time, Maria occasionally finds herself with the urge to shut Tony up by kissing him senseless. It's a little awkward in some ways, but probably no worse than Rhodey not always being able to meet her eye after he's been on patrol with Tony.

Such is the way the Drift works for co–pilots. Or at least, the way it works for them.

Pepper focuses on the sea before them, on the way the Jaeger is working, on the little things that they've been instructed to keep an eye on while operating the Jaeger. And they have a patrol to finish and all manner of detractors to prove wrong...

A communications buzz signals a message from the Shatterdome LOCCENT.

" _Stiletto_ , _Gipsy,_ this is Lima LOCCENT Chief Appin with Marshal Gregory on deck."

"We've just received the news that the Breach has opened and something's come through." The slightly hoarse voice of the current Marshall of the Lima Shatterdome is very distinct from the smooth tenor of LOCCENT Chief Appin. In the Drift, Pepper learns that Anneka Gregory used to be a police detective back in Sydney when her son died in the Scissure attack. She got involved in the Jaeger program and has risen through the ranks of the PPDC in spite of not having any military experience. "We don't yet have data on it, but your orders are to maintain the patrol until such a time as engagement is deemed necessary."

"Copy that, Marshall."

"Keep an eye on those dials and let us know if anything plays up. It's your first time out, and you've got plenty of fight yet to go, so don't rush it all if your Jaeger's not 100%. Do you copy me?"

"We copy, Marshall."

"You're doing fine, _Stiletto._ Keep doing it. Marshall out."

" _Stiletto,_ this is LOCCENT. We're reading everything good on this side of the instrumentation. Can you confirm on your side?"

"Confirmed, LOCCENT. All readings are within spec and coming up green."

"Good stuff. Just keep on keeping on. Or, as they say, _Drift with one eye open, gripping your Jaeger tight..._ "

Maria sputters with laughter. "You're getting as bad as the twins, Des."

"Well, you know Helen is a terrible influence. This is LOCCENT, out."

Information about the LOCCENT chief at Lima flows through the Drift. Des is originally from Sydney, and his sisters–in–law are the pilots of _Steel Tiger._ And on the day Scissure attacked Sydney back in 2014, Herc Hansen and Belle Jiang stole a chopper from an Australian Defence Force Base to rescue his son, a bunch of his son's classmates, and a pregnant teacher from the private school that lay in the _kaiju's_ path through Sydney.

_His wife was pregnant when she escaped Scissure?_

_With twins. The whole family now travels all over the Pacific Rim working with Marshall Gregory._

Memories of people whom Pepper has never met swirl through the Drift – faces and names and fragments of history from Maria's perspective. From experience, she'll remember little of it – like waking up from a dream and only briefly recalling the scenario before it fades away. That's part of the Drift, too, the vague sense of 'once upon a dream' that nevertheless leaves you with the lingering feeling of _deja vu_ all over again...

The Beckets call, the young men confirming their patrol down south and their eagerness to meet another _kaiju_ in battle.

"Looking forward to having a chance to fight your own _kaiju_ , Commander?

"Not really." The answer is imbued with the complicated overtones that Pepper understands perfectly, but which are quite possibly a little inexplicable to a couple of young men who are already hailed as heroes for fighting the _kaiju_.

"It's terrifying the first time," says one of the Beckets – the younger one. _Raleigh,_ the Drift supplies. "I mean, you're so glad they put bathrooms in these suits!"

His brother's protest makes them grin.

"Unnecessary information, Mr. Becket," Maria tells him, her voice studiously neutral. "But the reassurance is appreciated. We do what we have to."

"Well, you kind of come to enjoy it, too."

"If you didn't," Pepper says, "I don' imagine pilots would come back for the next fight."

Pepper and Maria keep walking their Jaeger up to the apex of their patrol point, the ocean's currents 'tugging' around their legs as they make their way through the water.

There's no sense of 'chill' to the water that surrounds the Jaeger's legs, but sensors all over Titanium's 'skin' relays to them the sense of pressure so they can keep the machine upright as they go. Without that feedback, passed through to the bodysuits they're wear under the armour, they'd never be able to pilot like the Jaeger was an extension of their own bodies.

They'd never be able to fight.

" _Stiletto_ , _Gipsy,_ this is LOCCENT. We've received a confirmation – Category 3 _kaiju_ , codename ' _Isonade_ ' is headed to the West Rim. Vancouver, and LA are on notice, and they have Jaegers deployed along the coast. It might divert back over to the East, but no guarantees on that."

_Who's on patrol in LA?_ Pepper asks Maria, thinking of Tony and Rhodey – and of Rogers and Wilson a moment later when the thought comes back that they were due out this morning... "Oh."

" _Stiletto_? Something wrong?"

"No," Pepper didn't realise she'd spoken out loud. "Thanks for the update, LOCCENT."

"We're hooking you in to the west coast shore feeds."

"Copy that."

The shore feeds are the readings from the shore sensors, including any major changes in the ocean currents, or sudden chemical backwash. When one of those sensors is pinged, it promptly starts up a range of other metrics to give more precise data. The sensors can be fed to the Jaeger Conn Pods, allowing the pilots to see what's happening off–shore as it happens. And from the look of the feeds, the _kaiju_ is definitely headed towards them.

An hour later, the news comes.

"Definitely coming down this way," is Marshal Gregory's conclusion. "But exactly where it's going to make shore is anyone's guess."

Through the Drift, Pepper is gleaning the details of other _kaiju_ battles which Maria witnessed as an observer in LOCCENT – why it is that there's two Jaegers out on patrol, why they're so spread out instead of close together, what's going to happen if the _kaiju_ comes to shore further out than either of the in–water Jaegers can reach—

So many variables, so many possibilities. And over the next thirty minutes, they watch as the possibilities narrow down, narrow down, narrow down...

It's heading directly for the city.

Directly for _them_.

"You're up, _Stiletto,_ " says the Marshall, in what seems to be a very colloquial manner. "This is yours."

"We're on it," Maria answers, and her voice is a cool and calm one that Pepper recognises in herself: the voice that might very well be panicking behind her eyes but is not otherwise going to betray so much as an iota of fear. There's too much riding on this for them to show fear, however terrifying this moment is.

_We've trained for this,_ Maria reminds them both.

_We're good at it._ At least, they were in the simulator and in the training runs, learning how the Jaeger moved, its capabilities, strengths, and limitations. Pepper watches the sensors with half an eye as they step through the surf towards the current signals that's telling them there's a _kaiju_ on the way.

Then it rises against the horizon; a great lump of a thing with a long tail of overlapping plates, like scales, layered over each other and tapering off to a fish's tail.

"What does ' _Isonade_ ' mean?" Pepper wonders out loud through the pounding pulse of their hearts, and the hum of the Jaeger all around them as they step in to meet the kaiju.

_Monster shark,_ Maria answers in the Drift, and the memory of young Mako Mori explaining Japanese legends and lore to her spins through their minds as the beast rises out of the water and lunges for them, slashing out with the tail—

They've already sidestepped the blow, their thoughts meshing and melding as they retreat. They did the studies, ran through the specs of _Stiletto_ , tested the moves, first in sim, then in the water. It's a giant robot powered by human thought, but it has all the limitations of several tons of metal and gears, while the _kaiju_ is unhampered by technical considerations of force and balance and moves like it's native to the water.

But they're native to this _planet_ and they're here to stop it.

_Sword–dance?_

Pepper doesn't even need to think _okay_ before they're shifting to the side and thrusting out with one arm to catch the flicked tail on the protective forearm gauntlet. A twist of the wrist to grab the tail, and they yank on the _kaiju_ , both leaning over and hauling back on it so the thing is within reach of their primary weapon – the one which gave their Jaeger her name.

In the last couple of weeks, Pepper has learned that Jaegers have types. There are bruisers – made to not only deliver the hits, but take them, too. _Brawler Yukon_ , _Cherno Alpha_ , and _Captain America_ are this kind. There are brawlers – made to batter and bash their way through to a fight's completion with a few external weapons which give them an advantage – _Steel Patriot, Gipsy Danger_ , _Coyote Tango_ are of this make. And then there are the fencers – lightest on their feet, most mobile, not made to engage but designed with additional technology to take out the kaiju as neatly and bloodlessly as possible.

_Titanium Stiletto_ is a fencer; or as Rhodey observed after watching them on a training run, a _dancer_.

They won't win in a blow–by–blow, but they don't have to. They're made to avoid close engagement, to deliver death to the _kaiju_ through repeated strikes at key weaknesses. And that's what's in their Drifting minds at this moment.

They hold their right hands out, fingers open, and close them into a fist, and the titanium spike flashes as it slides out of the back of _Stiletto'_ s right hand. The ocean winds whistle through the honeycomb of holes in the blade as they plunge it towards the middle of the creature's spine, and the shuddering crunch of bone and flesh reverberates through the suit sensors and the Conn–Pod. The squeal of pain is deflected by the Conn–Pod's metal, but still ear–shatteringly loud. Another flex of their fingers activates the 'honeycomb', made up of a dozen slim, slicing blades that push out into the _kaiju'_ s body at right–angles to the stiletto's length, severing nerves and scraping bones. A twist of the wrist ensures maximum damage to the _kaiju_ 's insides, before they pull both sets of blades in, yank the stiletto out, and dance away before the beast can lash out again.

_The tail is down,_ Maria observes as they back away from the writhing beast _, but so is the honeycomb stiletto._

_One minute to recharge?_ Pepper checks the timeframe. As the battle goes on, so will the length of time required for their weapons to recharge, but right now they have a small window of opportunity.

Traditionally, when a Jaeger's weapon is recharging, power must be taken from somewhere else to compensate. Traditionally, the easiest place to take power from is the movement servos, reducing the range of movement, dialling the Jaeger's motion sensitivity down, right when the pilots need it most. In contrast, Titanium Stiletto and the others in her production line were made with geomagnetic inductors, designed to boost power by way of motion. So long as they keep moving, they'll have power and to spare.

So they keep moving.

The _kaiju_ comes after them – a broken spine is nothing to a creature that moves in the water, supported by it. Just because it has a tail doesn't mean it can't attack; and they find themselves grappling with a creature that's far too big and heavy for them to have a hope of defeating like this.

_Lower our centre of gravity,_ Maria suggests, her eyes fixed on the beady blue eyes they can see through the 'screen' of the Jaeger. _Harder to push over._

They crouch the Jaeger down, legs bent and braced as the creature lunges at them again. It's harder for it to push them over, but it's also harder for them to move away. _Opportunities and costs_ , Pepper thinks, _strength and weakness._

Maria's astonishment swirls around them both in the Drift. _We have the secondary. But if we let it grapple, we need to be sure._

Pepper's made decisions on hunches before. They've almost always been successful – and when they haven't it's because something else got in the way of their metrics of success. But this is different. Losing might mean death – or worse, a loss of trust.

But they're not going to lose.

_Let's do it._

They're breathing in unison, hearts beating in unison, hands pushing in unison – the left hand, this time, shoving Isonade back just far enough for them to flex their _left_ palms to activate the stiletto there. This one has no honeycomb, just the long pointed spike that forms in the centre of the Jaeger's palm as the kaiju lunges forward—

Their left hand catches the _kaiju_ in the forehead, the spike shoving directly into its brain. The twisting throes of its agony nearly unbalance them, but they don't need their balance to fist the other hand so the honeycomb stiletto digs up through the creature's exposed throat and up into the brain. The twist of the wrist sends the secondary blades out, and then the world is slowly falling as they drop to their knees in the surf. Then the _kaiju_ convulses under their hands, shuddering, and goes limp.

Carefully, slowly, they retract the honeycomb blades and the stilettos, and let go of the _kaiju._ It slips into the water, and even as Pepper wonders if they should be leaving it there, she hears the distant buzz of Jumphawk choppers high above them.

"They'll collect it," Maria manages, her memories of other _kaiju_ collections slipping through the Drift from her earliest days as a Jumphawk.

" _Stiletto_ , this is LOCCENT. We have visual that the _kaiju_ is down. Are you able to confirm?"

They lock eyes across the Conn Pod, disbelief slowly giving way to triumph as it dawns on them what they've done. "LOCCENT, this is _Stiletto_." Maria says, consciously controlling her voice so it doesn’t sound breathless. "Confirm that _kaiju_ is down."

"Excellent. We've got _Fury_ geared up and ready to take your place on patrol when you're ready to come in. How are you arrayed for return?"

Maria looks at Pepper, although she has to know how the other woman feels.

They feel like they've taken on a _kaiju_ – more. They _have_ taken on a _kaiju_ – and they've won.

Pepper answers for them both. "We're good to come back, LOCCENT."

"Then come on home," comes the answer, although not from Des Appin, but from Marshall Gregory, her voice warm and smiling. "And, ladies? Well done."

The satisfaction that surges through them both is as adrenalising as the fight they just went through. Not just good, but recognised for who they are, acknowledged for what they are, appreciated for what they've done.

_Well done,_ Maria murmurs across the Drift.

_To both of us._

_Of course._

Pepper never wanted to be a Jaeger pilot.

But now that they are, there's no going back.

**~ fin ~**

**Author's Note:**

> And so ends the story of Maria & Pepper in the Pacific Rim universe.
> 
> The next story in this series is not a Maria & Pepper fic, but a Clint/Natasha one that runs parallel in the series and is (very briefly) referenced in here. At this point, it's unlikely that this series will continue beyond the eleven fics that presently exist, although there may someday be a story from Steve's POV. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read this series and either kudos'd it, bookmarked it, subscribed to it, or commented. Your feedback has kept me going through nearly four years of writing this, and I hope that you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed conceiving it.


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